Freelance
Traveller

Overview

Headquartered on the Imperial border system of Grote/Glisten, the
DiGroat Packet Line operates tightly scheduled transports between that
world and the Caladbolg, Glisten, and Strouden systems. The fact that
those three systems are part of the Imperial X-boat network is no
coincidence as the line’s vessels are meant to carry information first,
with passengers and freight second. The line currently flies six
vessels, each capable of jump-4. There are four 1,500 dTon packets, a
single 1,000 dTon “swing” packet, and a single 400 dTon courier which is
leased from the Marches Auxiliary Naval Service.

Current Operations

The DiGroat Packet Line is a wholly owned subsidiary of DiGroat
Holdings, LIC. Grote’s Clan Addakumak is the majority shareholder of
that parent company; however, several other clans, individuals, and
companies hold positions in the firm, too. As with all DiGroat Holdings
subsidiaries, Clan Addakkumak observes an extremely strict policy with
regards to operation of the line. The Clan and its businesses receive no
favors, price breaks, or other considerations when dealing with DPL.
This policy has stood the Addakkumak well for centuries, first being
applied to Grote’s Herreshoff Yards prior to the Third Frontier War, and
is the centerpiece of the clan’s reputation as fair, if sharp, business
dealers.

The hallmark of DPL’s operations is the tight scheduling of its
transport’s flights. Every 400 hours, a DPL packet leaves Grote for
Strouden or Glisten, and every 400 hours, a packet leaves those two
worlds for Grote.

Also, every 400 hours, the DPL courier will leave either Grote or
Caladbolg for the other system. A packet departs when it is due to
depart. Only equipment breakdowns can affect the schedule, empty
staterooms or empty cargo holds do not matter.

The line’s Strouden route passes through Havrosette. DPL owns part of
an orbital refueling/resupply business in that system to support its
operations there. The Glisten route passes through Weiss where a Class A
starport and its orbital components are available. There is no
intermediate stop on the Caladbolg route so no support on that route is
required.

DPL’s four 1,500-dTon Viscount Rhyl-class
transports fly the Strouden and Glisten routes exclusively. Laid down
after the Fifth Frontier war, these vessels are each capable of jump-4
and 1G acceleration. The line’s sole 1,000 dTon packet, the nearly one
hundred year old Gertrude K. Skib, has the
same drive performance. Acting as the firm’s “swing ship”,
Skib fills in on the Glisten and Strouden
routes whenever the other packets require maintenance downtime. The same
vessel also flies the Caladbolg route four times each standard year
while Zaunkoenig, DPL's 400-dTon courier,
flies the Caladbolg route solely.

Every DPL ship carries a communications suite modeled on the IISS
systems found aboard X-boats and tenders. These suites are backed up by
extensive data storage modules. Those modules are theoretically capable
of storing upwards of 500 hours of X-boat message traffic but they
rarely do so in practice. Instead, a portion of this data storage is
rented by various commercial concerns, concerns which range in size up
to megacorporations. The security surrounding these data modules is
quite high.

Passenger accommodations aboard DPL’s packets are officially limited
to double occupancy middle passages. Passage is also officially sold on
a first come basis. Naturally, there are occasional exceptions to this
and DPL will try to accommodate passengers with certain status. Passages
already sold will bought back at a premium to create however many single
staterooms are required and the stewards will be instructed to cater to
the occupants. None of the packets have dedicated low berth facilities.
Low berths and their occupants are carried between systems as freight,
however, so the number of low passages on any given trip will vary.

DPL almost never engages in any speculative trading, although they
routinely carry speculative goods as freight for other parties. Nearly
all the freight the line carries is of some priority, usually unique or
irreplaceable high-tech goods and equipment, and thus is freighted at a
premium. This is where DPL’s tight scheduling pays off; customers who
absolutely require certain items by a certain time can depend on the
line to deliver.

Nearly all of the passengers and freight the line handles are moved
along the Glisten and Strouden routes. While the Caladbolg courier only
carries small parcels and carefully vetted passengers, DPL’s larger
“swing” packet does fly the Caladbolg route four times each year.

History

The end of the Third Frontier War found Grote newly admitted to the
Imperium and economically devastated. The Sacnotian Occupation had
lasted longer than the war and during that period many of the system’s
mercantile clans had either fled or gone bankrupt while most of the
population had either left already or was planning on leaving. The
Addakkumak, returning to Grote to rebuild their economic empire, worried
constantly that they would not be able to pull the system out of its
downward spiral.

It was immediately apparent that Grote’s post-war economy would
require strong links with the Imperial economy it had formerly kept at
arm’s length. If this reconstruction and rebuilding were to succeed,
businesses on Grote would need timely information about Imperial
markets, policies, and politics. Accordingly, the Addakkumak launched a
private data service by mid-990. The service initially flew jump-3
routes to Marastan and Caladbolg with the express purpose of connecting
Grote with the Imperium’s X-boat network. The Addakkumak regularly sold
data space and small cargo aboard the vessels while following their
strict “No Preferences” policy because any economic growth in the system
was by definition good.

The system’s economy had rebounded enough by the mid-990s for a
jump-3 route between Grote and Forine to be added. At this point, the
Addakkumak reorganized the data service into a fast packet service. The
new company, DiGroat Packet Line, was a subsidiary of DiGroat Holdings
LIC from the first and investments by clans and individuals on Grote
were solicited. The additional capital, plus a growing economy, allowed
the new company to begin a scheduled 1000-hour service between Grote and
Glisten with jump-3 vessels.

DPL began its first jump-4 service between Grote and Glisten in 1000
with vessels that flew an 800-hour schedule. The line’s Marastan service
was dropped the same year.

In 1022, DPL began 400-hour, jump-4 service between Grote and Glisten
with three Hamtramck-class packets built
for that purpose. Jump-4, 400-hour service between Grote and Strouden
followed in 1025 with an additional three
Hamtramcks.

Built with the help of the Marches Auxiliary Naval Service, nearly
all six vessels of the Hamtramck class
proved to be successful ships. The MANS subsidies meant that DPL’s
packets could be imperialized at need. Hamtramck
herself was lost to enemy action during the 5th Frontier War, while
Clawson suffered a major action during the
4th Frontier War. Only one of the vessels is still in service with DPL,
the “yard queen” Gertrude K. Skib. The
other three have been sold to governments and businesses in Foreven and
the Trojan Reaches.

DPL’s jump-3 Forine route was dropped in 1071 when the political
climate on Forine meant service to that system was no longer profitable.
The final jump-3 route, which serviced Caladbolg, was replaced with
jump-4 service after the 4th Frontier War with the purchase of the
courier Zaunkoenig.

After 1111, with the loss of Hamtramck,
the purchase of the courier, the abandonment of Forine service, and
Grote’s growing economy, the four vessels of the 1,500 dTon
Viscount Rhyl-class were laid down,
replacing the older packets as they became available. Like their
predecessors, the new packets also received a MANS construction subsidy.